Our Target Communities: Indigenous communities of Chakma, Tripura,Garo, and Sawtal ethnicities. These communities are often socially isolated or they reside in remote areas where other aid efforts cannot reach easily.
Hijra community (recognized as third gender) is a historically disenfranchised group of intersex and trans people. During the COVID crisis, they have been left helpless as their usual means of income (blessing couples at weddings and raising money from shop owners) are unfeasible. They have been largely excluded from other relief programs and are further exploited by landlords and healthcare providers.
Sex workers, some with children, are uniquely marginalized. Young women in brothels have no business or support network through the crisis. They require financial assistance for food and sanitary products, but they are further excluded from Zakat (religious) donations.
Following is a detailed list of the communities we are supporting and our budget allocation (updated on July 1):
Sex workers Faridpur 210 1,856 Jamalpur 220 1,936 __________________________________________________________________________________ Total 3263 $10,314
Total accounting for GoFundMe and other fees: $10,682
Alokito Shishu and the Gift For Good Project (On-ground partners) Alokito Shishu (Facebook page ) is a social nonprofit founded in 2015 with a mission to educate the underprivileged children of Bangladesh. In late 2019, they launched the Gift For Good project to distribute hand-me-downs to underprivileged families, especially to those in remote areas and during crisis times. Since March 15, Gift For Good volunteers have been working tirelessly to provide relief assistance to disadvantaged people. [Follow their Facebook page for updates on all their relief work]
After considering a few organizations, we partnered with Alokito Shishu’s Gift For Good Initiative for our campaign because our goals and philosophies aligned. Gift For Good’s work with marginalized communities set them apart. Their widespread volunteer network, who are trained in social distancing guidelines and clad in PPE, gave us the confidence that they were fit for the job. The volunteers work with locals and community leaders to conduct effective relief drives. Alokito Shishu has assured that 100% of your donations will go directly to assisting families in need (minus GoFundMe fees) and there is no volunteer payout.
The relief packages provided by Gift For Good costs about BDT 725 (USD 8.84) on average and provides essential food items for a family of 4 for up to 7 days. There are changes to contents depending on the needs of the community, local market price, and availability of items (such as substituting lentils for local vegetable, etc). Our volunteers ensure the lowest cost by purchasing food in bulk wholesale. Each package usually features the following items:
ItemQuantityPrice (BDT) Rice 8 kgs 376 Lentils 1 kg 90 Oil 500 g 55 Salt 500 g 22 Potato 2 kg 50 Soap 1 pc 35 Bag 1 pc 23 Overhead (transport, PPE) 70 ___________________________________________________________________ Total BDT 725 = USD 8.84
Following any relief drive to a community, the Gift For Good team immediately conducts a free-to-participate field survey, recording specific information on household size, profession, and phone numbers of beneficiaries. Before further distribution to the same region, the core team calls affected households or a community leader to double-check on the food supply status. This simple cross checking helps the team ensure efficient allocation of resources to help reach communities in dire need. For questions and concerns about the Gift For Good project or to support their work, email [email redacted].
You can support our case and make a donation in one of several ways.
DONATION METHODS: USA, Canada, and donations in USD: GoFundMe: donate here Facebook: Venmo: @dbiswas (put “covid relief” in subject) PayPal: available through GoFundMe payment portal
Bangladeshi donors: bKash: (+880)1711-536084 [Name on account: Iftekher Khalid] Rocket: (+880)18420770552 [Name on account: Mithun Das Kabbo]
Bank transfer: Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited, Satmosjid Road branch Account Name: Iftekhar Khalid Account #: [phone redacted]05 Routing #: 090264030 Swift code: DBBLBDDH Singapore donors: Paylah: +6592436410 (Fahrisa)
European Donors: PayPal: ([email redacted]) Bank transfer: Bank: ABN AMRO B.V. Account Name: S Nawar, IBAN: NL54ABNA0534376274 BIC: ABNANL2A, The Netherlands, Reference: GoFundMe Donation
Master list of donations received: shorturl.at/blzEJ (updated regularly)
About the team: We are a group of friends and like-minded social workers living abroad but with roots in Bangladesh. Debopriyo Biswas (MD, USA): University of Maryland, PhD Cand in Physics Amritabha Guha (BC, Canada): BSc. Physics, University of British Columbia Suhiba Fariha Firuz (NC, USA): Duke University, Computer Science graduate Saraf Nawar (Netherlands): TU Delft, BSc. Civil Engineering & Geosciences Fahrisa Islam (Singapore): Yale-NUS College, BSc. Life Sciences Jason Kazi (VA, USA): Community Leader and Organizer Radwan Chowdhury (MD, USA): UDiON Foundation, Chairman Uzma Binte Haidary (MD, USA): Morgan State University, Masters Public Health Farasatul Adnan (MD, USA): University of Maryland, PhD Cand in ECE Shifti Kamal Tanna (VA, USA): Columbia School Of Social Work, MSW candidate Targiv Sanan Roham (NL, Canada): B.A. Memorial University of Newfoundland Ashraf Sehba Tabil Oindry (AL, USA): University of Alabama, Huntsville, Undergrad Taosif Ahsan (NJ, USA): Princeton University, Undergrad
For questions or concerns about our fundraiser campaign, reach out to [email redacted]nceton.edu.
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About UDION FOUNDATION, INC
UDiON‘s MISSION UDiON mission is to implement perpetual solutions to End the cycle of Poverty, Hunger and Social Injustice through “Education”. UDiON‘s VISION We envision a world where everyone has the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential and be a contributing member of the society.
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